Fighting for the ball: MLS and Klinsmann argue over US soccer future

In particular, Garber represents the MLS ownership group — at one time characterized by the conservative vision of sports industrialists incubating the league through a shaky early incarnation after World Cup 1994 and the painful contraction it went through in the post-9/11 economy. These days, that group has expanded beyond recognition, to 19 owners and growing, as the handful of owners who existed in 2002 have divested their multiple club ownerships and been joined by expansion owners.

That has transformed the culture of the ownership group — in both how it functions and how it sees itself. While clubs are largely self-determining, the single-entity structure of the league means that certain trends rippling through the MLS ecosystem can often be traced back to conversations at MLS board level.

One such trend — and a source of the displeasure with Klinsmann — has been the pursuit of U.S. national team stars to lure them to MLS on deals that critics say skew the market for those players. The latest phase started with the Seattle Sounders signing Clint Dempsey from Tottenham Hotspur last year, was followed by Michael Bradley leaving Roma for Toronto and then culminated with the signing of Jermaine Jones to New England after the World Cup.

Meanwhile, a clutch of U.S. internationals turned down interest from overseas to stay in the league, such as Omar Gonzalez in L.A. and Graham Zusi and Matt Besler at Sporting KC. This development meant that when the U.S. lined up against Germany in a World Cup group stage game, seven of the starting eleven played in MLS.

When Garber spoke up against Klinsmann — prompted by the coach’s comments on Michael Bradley’s “disappointing” season with Toronto FC — part of what was jarring about his comments was not so much the vehemence of them but the suggestion that Klinsmann was somehow going off message.

“To think that we are not aligned with our national team coach is disappointing and personally infuriating, frustrating as hell,” claimed Garber. “And frankly, I don’t think it is in line with the shared vision that this league has with the [U.S.] federation.”

Ironically, it’s the shared vision that is perhaps a big part of the problem. Part of the rescue plan that Garber and MLS President Mark Abbott presented to the MLS owners in 2002 involved the establishment of Soccer United Marketing (SUM), a marketing arm for MLS and the U.S. Soccer Federation. SUM eventually added the Mexican Federation as strategic partners, but at its heart was a structural project that formalized a strategic link between league and federation around monetizing the game.

The league and its owner-investors have independent governing roles from U.S. Soccer, but when broadcast rights, for example, are negotiated through SUM, the league and the international teams are generally considered as a single asset. A recent eight-year TV deal with ESPN, for example, includes MLS and U.S. national team games in a single package.

Framed in those terms, Garber and the MLS owners might believe they have every right to call on Klinsmann not to publicly diminish the collective assets of SUM, even if on strict managerial lines of accountability with the technical side of the game, their complaints might cross a line.

The picture is further complicated by Klinsmann’s overlapping roles as head coach and technical director. Between his appointment in 2011 and the 2014 World Cup, as he developed his overhaul of U.S. Soccer, the question of conflict between the two roles didn’t arise so much, since the conclusion of his first cycle in Brazil was always on the horizon.

With that tournament out of the way and Klinsmann earning a modest mandate by getting out of a difficult group but no further than the second round, more scrutiny has been applied to both parts of his role and the long-term vision.

On the coaching side, he has had an uncomfortable end to the year, as a rash of late goals against his team (including in Donovan’s staged international farewell appearance against Ecuador in October, which featured an awkward embrace between the pair) has seen them win only one of their last eight games, with the nadir coming a few weeks ago, as the side crashed to a 4-1 loss against Ireland in Dublin.

The coach appears to be wearing his technical development hat more often now. After acting as a charismatic unifier of all the U.S. soccer player factions — from MLS players to U.S. players playing with European or Mexican clubs — in building momentum toward Brazil, he has now begun to push for deeper structural change in the U.S. game. This has involved changing the domestic schedule to more closely align with international demands and making the MLS academy system more accountable. And he and his coaching team have prioritized pushing young players to test themselves at the highest levels in Europe.

And Klinsmann’s suggestion that more-established players remain in Europe and younger players go there has structural implications for the domestic game. Last month the Seattle Sounders co-owner and general manager, Adrian Hanauer, suggested to ESPN FC reporter Jeffrey Carlisle that Klinsmann’s emphasis on the values of a European soccer education for young players acted as a disincentive for him and other MLS owners to continue to invest in academies.

"We are investing millions of dollars in youth development,” said Hanauer. “It’s hard enough to compete with foreign teams who are trying to poach players in the U.S. and Canada. I'm certainly not happy if our federation and its representatives are in any way pushing our players to sign with a foreign club and bypassing our professional environment."

"At some point, clearly I — and I assume my MLS partners — would need to reconsider our investment in youth development, which I don't think is ultimately good for U.S. soccer.”

Hanauer was speaking as Sounders academy product and current Stanford University student Jordan Morris found himself included in successive national team rosters. The Sounders made money back on its investment in Morris’ fellow academy graduate and national team starlet DeAndre Yedlin, who was signed by Tottenham Hotspur after graduating into the Seattle first team, but Morris could yet slip through their fingers if he elects to go straight to a junior setup in Europe.

Those scenarios are part of what’s infuriating MLS owners, and again Klinsmann’s dual remit appears to be part of the problem. For a national team coach to encourage players to make individual decisions to improve — benefiting the national team — is one thing. But for a technical director, whose role includes developing players in the top domestic league, to provide even implicit encouragement to players to leave that setup is another.

It means tricky waters ahead for Klinsmann to navigate. As he has said, what’s exciting about the U.S. soccer scene is that the culture and structure is not yet set and he can have a hand in shaping what it might be. So too, though, will the players who follow Donovan’s lead and the owners who pay them.